


Bejeweled

by Kylo_Rens_Slashed_Face (gorgonbunny)



Series: Kylux 33 Days of Guro Challenge [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 33 Day Guro Challenge, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Kylo Ren gets bedazzled, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, Piercings, a small bit of blood, cutting into skin, microdermal piercings, scalpels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 02:53:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7557298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gorgonbunny/pseuds/Kylo_Rens_Slashed_Face
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo Ren decides to prove once and for all that he's stronger than the demons from his past. </p><p>(or, Kylo Ren gets bedazzled, literally)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bejeweled

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be for the Kylux33 Days of Guro Challenge, but I'm not sure if it qualifies. I had this idea and it seemed to fit for the piercings trope. This isn't all that graphic, but there is cutting with a scalpel, a small amount of blood and a bit of violence, and the rules of the Guro challenge suggest to label as explicit, so I did. Warnings for cutting, blood and implanting things beneath the skin.

Kylo knelt down before his shrine. The only object on the shrine was his Grandfather’s mask. He bowed his head, basking in the emanating Darkness. He felt it roil through him. He felt faintly nauseous for a moment, but as the Dark curled around him, a rush of euphoria washed over him. The Force was alive, even in this seemingly dead object. The Force ebbed and flowed, like waves of an ocean, never purely Dark or purely Light, swirling, and sometimes even blending. He had to keep a firm hold on the Dark (or enable the Dark to keep a firm hold on him?). The Mask exuded pure Darkness, and Kylo needed it more than water.

 

He enjoyed the pulsating of the Darkness for a long moment before reaching for a concealed compartment beneath the shrine, which opened with a subtle twitch of his fingers. He slowly brought out a canvas wrapped bundle. The bundle didn’t look like much, just an old bit of canvas cloth, but it contained his most prized possessions, after his Grandfather’s mask. He laid the bundle on the shrine and opened it slowly. Using the Force, he gently spread out its contents, a dozen or so glinting lightsabers.

 

Kylo reveled in their power and pureness. A Jedi is bound to their lightsaber; it’s a part of them. The heart of the saber, the kyber crystal, pulses in time with their own heartbeat. In order for a Jedi to construct a lightsaber, they must complete a spiritual quest to find the crystal. It is a spiritual union, not merely a weapon.

 

He doesn’t touch them physically. He has only ever touched them once - when he had retrieved each one as a trophy. One by one, as he struck down the Jedi, Padawans really, and took hold of each of their sabers, he could feel each of their crystal’s Force energies whipping, flailing about, grabbing for in vain for their defeated masters. It was nearly too much to take, and Kylo had quickly wrapped each one in his cloak as he obtained them. At first, could barely stand to look at them, their brightness in the Light nearly blinding. He had hoped that keeping them so close to Darth Vader’s mask would dim that Light.

 

They were still nearly blinding, but much more calm, tolerable. His hand hovered over them, almost repulsed by them. He was done with waiting, though. Now was the time, he had to move forward in his training, He had to learn to channel both the Light and the Dark.These sacred objects were imbued with the Light Side, and harnessing the power in these crystals would increase his strength in the Force.

 

He settled his hand on the first one. A flash came instantly to his mind, a girl with blue skin and red, tear-filled eyes, looking more confused than frightened.  He jerked his hand away. _Not that one_ , he thought, _I should begin with a different one_ . He immediately knew which to start with, and  grabbed it quickly, not letting his apprehension get the better of him. _The First._

 

\-----------

 

The first was almost a whim, just to see if he could get away with it. Luke wasn’t there. Kylo, no Ben, and his fellow apprentice Jedi... Corin... yes, that was her name, almost his age, were investigating a cave, a possible source for kyber crystals. The cave, lit only with small cracks of light coming from above, was dark, and felt Dark. They considered going back, but Ben’s curiosity (and possibly something else) urged him to continue.

 

“Crystals in their natural state aren’t Dark or Light,” he explained to Corin, “They inherit the inclination of their wielder” Corin just nodded lightly, and warily followed him.

 

The cave eventually opened into a pitch black cavern. Before Ben could switch on his lightsaber for light, the crystals glowed on their own, as if alerted to their presence. They glowed only with energy; so much energy Ben could see without light.  It felt very peaceful, perhaps deathly so. Corin grabbed Ben’s shoulder.

 

“No, let’s go back,” she whispered as if there was someone else in the cavern that could hear them, “I feel like we shouldn’t be in here.”

 

“It’s okay,” Ben said, still stepping slowly forward, “We’ll go, in just a moment.” He edged forward, unsure if what he was seeing was actually there. He reached out for a nearby crystal. He wanted to touch it, even though he knew he shouldn’t. It would not be useful for any other Jedi if he touched it. He just wanted to barely touch it. Just barely. Just…

  
  


Corin was shaking him. “Ben! Wake up! Please,” she pleaded.

 

He looked up at her. In the energy of the crystals, he could see her outline,  little white sparks around the edges of her form. He could see the Force, not just feel it. He glanced at his hand. He could see little red sparks flickering around his hand, in it was clenched the crystal, sparking red. It felt alive, tingling his palm.

 

“What happened?”, she sounded relieved he was alright, but she was still scared.

 

“You tell me,” Ben sat up.

 

“You just fell unconscious. You don’t know why?”

 

He got up. Did she see him take the crystal? He wasn’t sure, so he hid it in his fist. He didn’t remember taking it, he remembered he just wanted to barely brush it with a finger.

 

“No. Didn’t you see?” He asked.

 

“I can barely see anything in here,” she said.

 

“Can’t you see the crystals? They’re glowing.” Ben waved his arm, gesturing to the cavern around them. Red sparks flickered more vibrantly all around from the hundreds of crystals. They hummed with energy. “And now they’re humming,” he smiled.

 

Corin didn’t see his smile, his gesture or the crystals.

 

\-----------

 

Ben, no Kylo, was pulled from his vision by a rude knock at his door. He was holding Corin’s lightsaber to his chest. It was warm. He held it up, ignited it, the blade a brilliant white.

 

Kylo waved his hand lazily and the door opened. General Hux stepped through and the door slid silently shut behind him.

 

“That’s a nice lightsaber,” Hux commented, “I didn’t know they came in white.”

 

Kylo just sighed. Hux felt like he was interrupting something very private, even though he had been invited.

 

“Early, as usual,” Kylo said, sounding annoyed. He switched off the white lightsaber and set it back on the shrine.

 

“I’m sorry, but if you wanted me here later, you should have asked me to come later.” Hux huffed. He then noticed the other lightsabers laid out on the shrine. Along with that abhorrent helmet. He looked away from the shrine, noting the tool tray that Kylo had prepared: A bowl of isopropyl alcohol, a bowl of bacta, two stacks of disposable wash cloths, some latex gloves, some small items that resembled cufflinks laid neatly in three rows of four - when was Kylo ever neat about anything? Hux thought-, a box of sterilized scalpels, and a suture kit. There was also a disposal container marked "biohazard". Hux removed his coat, this might get a bit messier than he had anticipated.

 

“Give me a moment,” Kylo said. Hux watched from a respectful distance, feeling as though this was some kind of sacrament.  Kylo used the Force to open each lightsaber, removing their crystal hearts one by one. He then stilled, pondering something. The crystals were colored either blue or green, except one, which was clear, Corin’s.

 

“Ok, Dear General, I’m ready,” Kylo said, removing his thin night shirt. He glanced back at Hux, “You may want to remove your shirt as well.”

 

Hux unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off, then removed his undershirt. The air felt too still and heavy, he wanted to lighten the mood. “Should I take off my trousers as well?” He joked.

 

“If you like,” Kylo said.

 

The mood was not lightened.

 

Kylo knelt on a blood-red rug. _How fitting_ , Hux thought. Hux moved to kneel behind Kylo. He reached over Kylo’s shoulder and took one of the crystals off the shrine.

 

“Not the clear one,” Kylo said, as if he had just decided that. He gingerly took the clear crystal in his thumb and finger, ready to flick it away if it burned him. It didn’t. It was very warm, but it didn’t burn. He closed his hand around it loosely and held it to his chest.

 

“Does that...thing… have to watch us?” Hux indicated Vader’s mask.

 

“Yes,” Kylo answered.

 

Hux took one of the cufflink looking things off of the tray and set the crystal on top of it. It felt a bit repelled, like a magnet when it’s held near another, equally charged, magnet, but then it grabbed the crystal so suddenly that Hux almost dropped it. Little prongs like spider legs held the crystal firmly. He turned the “cufflink” to look at it more closely. A thin, translucent flange ringed the side opposite the crystal. It had what looked initially like a pin on the bottom, but was actually dozens of tiny filaments that he swore were wriggling. He wasn’t entirely sure that this thing wasn’t alive, it almost looked like some sort of tidepool creature. He set the macabre piece of jewelry down on the tray. It hovered, pin side down.

 

“Where did you get these?” Hux asked.

 

“They are called Qiitins, they focus the kyber crystals’ power,” Kylo said, not answering where he got them.

 

Hux put on a pair of the gloves. He partially opened one of the sealed scalpels and one of the pre-threaded needles and put them in an easy-to-reach spot on the tray.

 

Hux ran his finger along Kylo’s spine. “Can we put them here?” he asked.

 

“If you like, you’re the one that has to look at them,” Kylo said.

 

Hux ran his hands over the nuances of Kylo’s back, finding an ideal spot for the first one, in the curve of his lower back. He rubbed his thumbs in little circles, matching the spot on both sides. Kylo hummed approvingly.  Hux dipped a cloth in the alcohol, then rubbed one of the spots he had just indicated. The cold of the alcohol felt really nice on Kylo’s skin.

 

“I thought you said you wouldn’t need stitches,” Hux said, as he picked up the scalpel.

 

“I won’t if you do it right,” Kylo replied.

 

“So you don’t trust me?” Hux touched the tip of scalpel's blade to Kylo’s skin, pressing just enough to make a small dimple, but not break the skin. Kylo twitched. “If you don’t hold still, any stitches you need will be entirely your own fault.”

 

Hux made a small incision. The thin layer of skin pulled away and the cut was pure white for a second before blood oozed out. Hux dabbed a cloth on it. He repeated the action a few more times. Sliding the scalpel in a bit further each time, dabbing the blood as needed. Then, when he had a small, but deep slit, he dropped the scalpel into the disposal container on the tray. He carefully picked up the crystal he’d just assembled, pulling the incision open with his other hand, he pressed it into the opening. Kylo’s breath hitched. He had to maneuver it a bit to get the flange fully under the skin. It felt like it was turning slightly, pulling itself deeper under Kylo’s skin. When most of it was beneath the skin, with just the crystal, and the little spider leg like prongs that held it, sticking above the skin, Hux dabbed a bacta soaked cloth over the new piercing. It fit so snuggly that there was no longer any blood. Kylo moaned softly and swayed.

 

Hux put his hand on Kylo’s back and leaned forward. “Are you alright? That was just the first one, are you sure you’re up to this?”

 

Kylo didn’t hear him. He could only hear a sound like water rushing past his ears as the crystal entered his body, and the little filaments extended deeper into his muscle fiber, into his blood vessels, into his very being. It burned, and stabbed. The Light was so strong with this one. _I am immune_ , he thought, _I am immune to the Light, I am stronger than the Light._  He clenched his fists and winced out loud. “I am stronger than you!” his voice creaked out.

 

\--------

 

He saw a boy, covered in dirt, scrambling on the ground as he attempted to get away from Ben - who was now Kylo Ren, but the boy didn’t know that. In an instant, Kylo leaped onto him, pressing him into the mud. He dug his knee into the boy’s, Dakka’s, chest. “Fight me!” Kylo yelled.

 

Kylo grabbed Dakka’s lightsaber, which had fallen to the ground, and shoved it into Dakka’s hand. Dakka held it for a moment, then let it drop, “No, Ben, I won’t fight you.”

 

“Then defend yourself, at least! Fool!” Kylo held his lightsaber up to Dakka’s face.

 

Dakka just closed his eyes and recited the Jedi Code: “There is no Death, there is the Force.”  

 

Kylo stilled for a moment, watching Dakka take labored breaths. The rain began to fall. His lightsaber growled and hissed impatiently. “The Force shall Free me” he muttered as he brought his hand up to Dakka’s throat. He dropped his lightsaber in the mud and closed his other hand around Dakka’s neck. He pressed with Force, the Dark rushing through him with such pressure he thought he himself would be crushed.   _I am stronger than the Light! I have already defeated you, I will continue to defeat you!_

 

\---------

 

Hux watched Kylo twitch and gasp as the blue crystal he’d implanted turned a fierce crimson, cracking, sparking, before dulling to deep blood red. Kylo shivered and left out a long breath. Hux waited for Kylo’s breathing to steady. The room seemed to hum and crackle distantly as if the sound was only in his head.

 

“Shall I, uh,” Hux said, his voice sounding painfully out of place, “Shall I proceed?” Kylo nodded. Hux reached over Kylo’s shoulder to grab another crystal, averting his eyes from Darth Vader’s mask and he could have sworn that the air was colder on the shrine. He resisted a shiver. He placed the crystal on one of the cufflink/sea creature looking things, Qiitins, Kylo called them, and, as before, it grabbed it like a spider grabbing a beetle. He set it on the tray, and it hovered just as the other had. He rubbed alcohol on the spot on Kylo’s back opposite the first crystal with a fresh cloth and unwrapped up a fresh scalpel.

 

As he cut into Kylo’s skin, he felt an odd twinge, like a small electric current. He repeated the procedure, making an incision. This time, as he pressed the Qiitin into the opening, it almost felt like it was burying itself into the skin, and he just had to hold a finger on it while it wiggled it’s way in. Kylo groaned and tensed, then began breathing heavy and swaying, just as he had done before. He muttered something between clenched teeth that Hux couldn’t quite understand. Hux wasn’t as surprised or concerned this time, and let Kylo do...whatever it was that he was doing, fighting some inner demons, by the look of it. The crystal, this one also blue, began glowing red and Hux thought it looked like it was trying to escape the Qiitin’s grasp. It sparked, and became a brilliant orange - Hux was certain he could feel heat coming off it - before cracking then dulling to deep red.

 

Kylo shuddered. His breathing was irregular. Hux realized that Kylo was sobbing. He didn’t know if he should put a hand on his back to comfort him, or if he should act as though he didn’t notice. Hux did nothing until Kylo glanced over his shoulder at him and nodded, face tear-stained.

 

Hux repeated the procedure with the rest of the crystals, save for the one Kylo grasped to his chest. With each incision he made the feeling of electricity increased. Each time Kylo groaned and shuddered, once even crying out, but each time the crystal reddened and cracked faster than the one before it. Kylo was nearly vibrating as the last Qiitin slipped under his skin, pulling itself forcefully, without any pressure from Hux’s fingers. The crystal cracked almost instantaneously, turning nearly black.

 

Hux gently ran a bacta soaked cloth over the newly implanted crystals. There were twelve of them, starting at his lower back, running up his spine, and along his shoulders. Hux pulled off the gloves and touched Kylo’s now bejeweled back. It was both beautiful and alien. As he touched the crystals, he could feel the energy rippling through them. It felt strong, empowering, dangerous, volatile, Dark. It felt amazing even running his fingers over them, he couldn’t imagine what Kylo was feeling.

 

Kylo didn’t move for a long while, concentrating on his breathing, forcing himself to stop shaking. He felt like he might rip apart if he moved too suddenly. The crystals had put up quite a fight, and he had overpowered them, but they still scratched and squeaked angrily, futilely, like bats trapped in a net. He opened his trembling hand - his palm red and creased as if burned - revealing that Corin’s clear crystal was now glowing bright red. It hadn’t cracked. Kylo smiled. He called his own lightsaber to him from a stand on the far side of the room; Hux nearly jumped as it flew past him.

 

Using the Force, he opened his lightsaber, removed the cracked red crystal, the one he had retrieved from that Dark cavern many years before, laying it gently on the shrine, and replaced it with Corin’s, now Kylo’s, crystal. He reassembled the lightsaber with its new heart and ignited it. It was a brilliant, steady red. It didn’t need the vents any longer, it no longer had an unstable crystal for a heart, but the quillons were a feature that he liked.  He would maybe construct a new hilt later, but, for now, this was a symbol of his victory over the Light.

 

Hux tenderly rubbed Kylo’s back, unsure if the crystals were continuing to hurt him. Kylo twitched slightly but didn’t tell him to stop. “It’s beautiful,” he said, leaning forward to kiss the nape of Kylo’s neck.

 

“Yes,” Kylo replied, “it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was my very first fan fic, so please be gentle.  
> I only just discovered that Guro was a thing a few days ago. I knew that type of stuff existed, but I didn't know what it was called, and I didn't realize how much I liked it until I read some of it. So much so it prompted me to write my first fan fic ever.  
> I'm not doing the full 33 Days challenge, but I will try to do a few more. 
> 
> I intended the word Qiitin to be pronounced like [kītn], but pronounce it however you like, it's a crazy Star Wars thing, so it doesn't really matter.  
> Corin and Dakka are original characters, so any resemblance to existing Star Wars characters is unintentional and purely coincidental.


End file.
